12.31 vocab
on track 步入正轨
tackle climate change 应对气候变化
reduce biodiversity loss 减少生物多样性的丧失
behind schedule 进度落后
severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 严重急性呼吸系统综合症
originate in 起源于
All eyes were on the coronavirus outbreak. 所有视线集中于新冠病毒的爆发。
an under-reported emergency 报道不足的紧急事态
a swathe of 一堆，一团，大量
vast swarms of the desert locust 大群的沙漠蝗虫
declare the coronavirus to be a pandemic 宣布新冠病毒大流行
declare a nationwide lockdown 宣布全国封锁
bring sb. to heel 逼迫某人服从
test, track and isolate as many cases as possible 检测，追踪和隔离尽可能多的病例
continue on its destructive path 继续带来毁灭（意译）
it becomes clear that … 很明显
fuel racism and discrimination 助长种族主义和歧视
misinformation 误传，误报
disinformation 不实咨询，假消息
scepticism/skepticism about the safety of the vaccines 对疫苗安全性的怀疑
crushing of protests 对抗议的压制
amid the coronavirus pandemic 在冠状病毒大流行中
raging geopolitical tensions 激烈的地缘政治紧张局势
get sth. off the ground 使…开始，启动…
sth. gets off the ground 开始，启动，成功进行
rover 流浪者，漫游者;
orbiter 轨道飞行器
the United Arab Emirates 阿拉伯联合酋长国
launch an interplanetary mission 发射行星际的任务
transcend their Earthly woes 超越尘世的灾难
transcend 超越，超出…的限度; 优于…
inauspicious 不祥的; 凶兆的
nuclear arsenal 核军火库
uranium 铀
warhead 导弹的弹头
leave academic research离开学术研究
work-related mental-health concerns与工作有关的心理健康问题
spell trouble for… 预示…将有麻烦
have no future in academic research 学术研究没有前途
relentless and high-profile attacks on science 对科学无情和高调的攻击
pledge to do 承诺做某事
call for greater regulation and transparency 呼吁加强监管和透明度
robust 结实的; 强劲的
shore up public confidence in immunization 增强公众对免疫接种的信心
shore up 支撑住

12.31 vocab 摘录与来源
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03560-2

January: environmental ‘super-year’ ahead
Most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were established by the United Nations in 2015, were not on track even before the coronavirus pandemic, and global targets to tackle climate change and reduce biodiversity loss were also behind schedule.
February: stop the virus
In two papers in Nature, teams led by researchers in China confirmed that the virus is similar to the one that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and reported evidence that it originated in bats.
March: locusts and lockdowns
While all eyes were on the coronavirus outbreak, an under-reported emergency was threatening food, health and jobs in a swathe of countries. Crops in East Africa, the Middle East and south Asia had been devoured by vast swarms of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria.
On 11 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, to be a pandemic.
Italy had declared a nationwide lockdown. But, worryingly, there were few signs that world leaders were willing to cooperate in efforts to bring the virus to heel. The United States and many European countries were not following the WHO’s advice to aggressively test, track and isolate as many cases of COVID-19 as possible.
April: not the time to turn against the WHO
As the virus continued on its destructive path, it became clear that the pandemic was also fuelling racism and discrimination against people of Asian descent around the world.
May: misinformation and vaccine hesitancy
The misinformation and disinformation, most of which was circulating online, concerned subjects ranging from unproven treatments to scepticism about the safety of the vaccines being developed against COVID-19 because of the speed at which this research and development was moving.
June: Black Lives Matter
The killing of Black people in the United States, most notably that of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department in Minnesota in late May, and Trump’s crushing of subsequent protests, angered the world.
We must do more to correct those injustices, amplify marginalized voices, and be held accountable for these actions.
July: mitochondria and missions to Mars
As funding agencies reassessed their priorities, a Nature paper gave a much-needed boost to the value of foundational research. That the team had embarked on the work with an entirely different goal in mind added to the significance of the achievement.
And, amid the coronavirus pandemic and raging geopolitical tensions, three long-planned Mars missions finally got off the ground. The latest US rover, and orbiters designed by China and the United Arab Emirates — the first Arab nation to launch an interplanetary mission — offered a powerful symbol of how efforts to explore other worlds give nations the opportunity to transcend their Earthly woes, we wrote.
August: an anti-nuclear dawn
August marks an inauspicious anniversary for science, that of the first — and, so far, only — deployment of nuclear weapons in war.
The world’s nuclear arsenal is alarmingly large, comprising an estimated 1,335 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and 13,410 warheads. Some 90% of these are in the United States and Russia.
September: postdocs in crisis
Half of the 7,670 respondents revealed that they were considering leaving academic research because of work-related mental-health concerns.
It spells trouble for knowledge, discovery and invention if so many people are concluding that they have no future in academic research.
October: it has to be Biden
Following the Trump administration’s relentless and high-profile attacks on science — and the politicization of the pandemic and threats to scholarly autonomy around the world — the journal pledged to cover more politics news, commentary and primary research.
November: the ethics of facial recognition
Some researchers, as our editorial highlighted, are rightly joining campaigners in calling for greater regulation and transparency, as well as for communities that are being monitored by cameras to be consulted — and for use of the technology to be suspended until lawmakers have reconsidered where and how it should be used.
December: vaccines are coming
Vaccines are in use in Russia and China, too — and China is also supplying other countries. But global coordination is still lacking, with countries conducting approvals according to different criteria, and with the wealthiest procuring the majority of early orders.
If regulators all had access to the same data, it would be easier for them to compare their findings and analyses with those of others. Their decisions would be more robust and that, in turn, would shore up public confidence in immunization.

12.28 摘录与来源
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02002-3

The United Nations has confirmed an unwelcome suspicion: the coronavirus pandemic has put the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) out of reach. Most of the goals to end poverty, protect the environment and support well-being by 2030 were already off course. Now, what little progress had been made has been stopped in its tracks.

Researchers both outside and inside the UN are questioning whether the goals are fit for the post-pandemic age. The goals’ ambition is as important as ever, but fresh thinking is needed on the best ways to achieve them.

Of the 17 SDGs, just 2 — eliminating preventable deaths among newborns and under-fives, and getting children into primary schools — were close to being achieved pre-pandemic. But COVID-19 has turned back the clock.

The rise in domestic abuse brought about by lockdown measures has put paid to progress in the goal for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Many women have been unable to access sexual- and reproductive-health services, which could result in as many as 2.7 million extra unsafe abortions being carried out.

At the same time, at least 270 million people face hunger, and the World Food Programme is preparing its biggest humanitarian response in history. More than 70 million people will be forced into extreme poverty this year — potentially wiping out recent gains.

All in all, the goals to eliminate poverty, hunger and inequality, and to promote health, well-being and economic growth are headed for extinction.

What, then, needs to be done? Even before the pandemic, ideas were being floated to find ways to make the goals more achievable. Under one proposal from a group of UN science advisers, the 17 SDGs and 169 associated targets would be redistributed into 6 “entry points”.

When the goals were set, in 2015, the picture was one of rising economic growth and positive international cooperation — which led to the Paris climate agreement — both essential to meeting many of the SDGs’ targets. Now that the world is reeling from coronavirus and is on the brink of a once-in-a-century depression, governments are cooperating much less; crucial international meetings on protecting the climate, biodiversity and wetlands have been postponed; and aid to help the poorest countries meet their goals is set to fall.